Russian aviation service promises Y2K safety

By Associated Press

MOSCOW -- Russia's aviation authority said Wednesday it can guarantee the safety of flights over Russian territory and of airport operation during the changeover to year 2000.

The deputy chief of the Russian Federal Air Transport Service, Viktor Galkin, said the agency's experts have checked all computer systems and located the components that could cause problems, the Interfax news agency reported.

The potentially faulty equipment is being replaced, and funding for the work has been secured, Galkin said.

Russia has been slower than western nations to address the so-called Y2K bug, a computer programming glitch that makes older computers read the date Jan. 1, 2000, as Jan. 1, 1900, causing systems to shut down.